OrcaSlicer: the community slicer with built-in calibration tests

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OrcaSlicer is a free, open-source slicer developed further by a large community. It is built on Bambu Studio and adds many features that make tinkering and optimising easier. Several manufacturer slicers are now even based on OrcaSlicer.

At a glance

Who is OrcaSlicer suited to?

• Owners of almost any printer: There are profiles for hundreds of machines, including from Bambu Lab, Prusa, Creality, Anycubic, Elegoo and Voron.
• Anyone who wants to optimise: The built-in tests make fine-tuning much easier.
• Owners of several printer brands: one slicer for all machines.

The built-in calibration tests

This is the main argument for OrcaSlicer. Instead of looking for test models and adjusting settings by hand, you start the tests straight from the menu:

• Temperature tower: finds the best nozzle temperature, more in Setting the print temperature
• Flow rate: sets how much material is fed
• Pressure advance: compensates for the pressure in the nozzle when speeds change, for cleaner corners
• Retraction: finds the right retraction length to prevent stringing
• Maximum volumetric flow: shows how fast your hotend can print with a given filament
• Tolerance test: checks how accurate fits turn out

Other strengths

• Several build plates in one project
• Good control over the seam, that is, the point where each layer starts and ends
• Network printing to many printers, including Bambu Lab and machines with Klipper firmware

Limitations

• Many settings can overwhelm beginners. The default profile is enough to start with.
• Manufacturer features such as cloud services or special multi-colour systems sometimes run more smoothly in the manufacturer’s own slicer.

Manufacturer slicers based on OrcaSlicer

Several manufacturers ship their own versions of OrcaSlicer, for example Creality Print, ElegooSlicer and Anycubic Slicer Next. They look very similar and contain the profiles and cloud features of the respective manufacturer.

For an overview of all the major slicers, see the slicer comparison.